I live in Pgh, but am orig from Buffalo. I cant believe Pgh isnt gonna bulild a new arena here. Not just for the Pens, but for everything else. HSBC Arena has brought alot of money into Buffalo which IMO is more financially strapped than Pgh. Buffalo found a way to build an arena why cant Pgh?? The Isle of Capris deal is such a sweet deal, A FREE ARENA but all of the old men that run this city only know Steelers and Pirates. All of the other deals have alot of intangibles. Rendell could care less about Pgh let alone the Pens. I will be at that rally Saturday (I'll be the guy sporting my Sabres jersey though). I'm gonna wear my Buffalo gear just to show that people that dont even like the Pens support the Isle of Capris/Mario deal deal.

On another note. IMO if the Steelers win the SB alot of the city wont care if the Pens leave (meaning the fair weather fans), but if they lose thats just gonna add to the hunger of this city wanting to win a championship. Would you sacrifice a SB win to keep the Pens here???

Regardless I dont wanna see the Pens leave, and I know you guys dont wanna see the Steelers lose but you may not be able to have your cake and eat it too.

Sabres are only 3 hours away. They are my fallback team when the pens stink.

If you know anything about politics in this state, you will conversely have a very cynical view of this whole issue, like I do. I ve watched assets leave here for the past 25 years, and I dont see it changing.

Im telling you folks, if you really like hockey, start making a contingency plan to get the hell out. Last one turn out the lights.

Well the Steelers have won and they are the toast of the town. All we'll be hearing on Stan and Mark's shows will be 99.9% Steeler talk about how they will win the next 3 SB's, and no hockey talk whatsoever. IMO the Pens chances of staying here have faded alot with the Steelers SB win. Again I just want to make sure everyone knows Im not talking smack. I want the Pens to stay. I was at the rally Saturday.

I think Rendell , Onroato etc...... know the Pens are way under the radar now, and almost no one will be thinking of the new arena for a bit, but you guys HAVE GOT TO KEEP THE PRESSURE ON!!!! Call the radio shows and just bring up the Pens and the arena. The SB is over, and it's hockey season now. The city of Buffalo didnt want a new arena right away. They were satisified with the "Aud", but a ton of pressure from a hockey hungry city I think made the difference.

what the steelers accomplished has no bearing at all on the situation with the penguins. at least it shouldnt. Its just unfortunate that the corporate community is so pathetic around here (we had lots of them, they all left, and USX may be next) and no one is around to build a building like the rest of the country has been able to do.

Thus the pens have to deal with old boy machine politics, that coupled with having some of the most illiterate, braindead, narrow minded people in the country here doesnt help either. You guys are fortunate in that you can draw from southern ontario for fans. That helps offset the NFL mentality. You may be gaining some more fans down the road. When the pens leave, this area's air rights will be divided between columbus, buffalo and ugh, Philly.

Yeah look when Nordstrum's (spelling) was supposed to come to downtown, and they backed out (Fifth and FOrbes project). IMO PNC Bank (my former employer) will be relocating most of their jobs soon, Mellon already sold and left for the most part. Yeah they sold to citizens and they still have branches here, but all of the back office jobs are in Rhode Island now. Who's next Heinz????? USX?????

Hey I'd welcome Pgh to cheer for the Sabres!!! They didnt have to go out and spend a ton of money to field a winning team, and Pittsburgh and Buffalo arent that far away geographically. I know no-one will be a philly fan LOL.

Your information on Mellon is wrong. Mellon sold it's retail banking business. They are still the 3rd largest employer behind PNC and I forget who else.

I also seriously doubt that PNC will be relocating most of their jobs soon, since they just built the First St. Building and their most recent announcementabout a new Skyscraper with investment offices and the like.

I know my hospital there is the largest employer.
PittsburghÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s economy is now driven primarily by healthcare, technology, education, & finance. The largest employer in the region is UPMC ( University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) with approximately 27,000 employees. West Penn Allegheny Health System & the University of Pittsburgh each employ another approx 10,000.
PNC Financial Services Group & Mellon Financial follow, each with close to 7,000 employees.

But, Mellon *is* subbing out a lot of jobs, so Sabres fan has it somewhat right too. And how far will that go? Including my own family, I personally know of 38 other families who've had to leave just in the last year alone 'cuz their jobs dried up.

There's lots of rumors on the wind outside the city. So either those outside of Pittsburgh aren't getting the *real story* or we are & you guys aren't. Did you ever think about that?